3.55pm: The match has been abandoned at Old Trafford, writes Andy Wilson. Lancs get 9pts and Kent 7pts, although there is a danger Kent may be docked one of theirs for a slow over rate.

3.45pm: Imagine the groans - in the press box and probably in the dressing room - when the tannoy lurches into action, writes Vic Marks. "If there is no more rain play will resume at 4.15pm". The poor groundstaff are heaving off the covers as the sun comes out again. The game is dead, but we must play for about another 35 minutes. The regulations of county cricket have a mind of their own. So does CMJ's laptop. It's just burst into song to the consternation of its master.

2.40pm: It's getting gloomy here; there is rain around and not many spectators, writes Vic Marks in Taunton. Yet those who have hung around have the pleasure of watching one of the best English batsman of the last two decades going about his business. Marcus Trescothick is notching a few more runs. In fact they are just walking off now.

County cricket can throw up some golden passages of play at the most unlikely of moments. Duels pop up from nowhere.

1981, a gloomy deserted Lord's around 5pm. And something special happened that got all the Somerset players on to the balcony. For some reason Jeff Thomson, playing for Middlesex, decided to bowl flat out. It may have been something to do with the fact that Viv Richards was at the crease.

Thomson, at full stretch bowled fast and sometimes short. Richards, capless, hooked and hung on. Pride was at stake amid much mutual respect. It was a mesmerising duel, rather more uplifting than the one going on at the other end, where the cricket correspondent of the Guardian was bowling to Peter Roebuck. Thommo was at mid-off during that less than uplifting contest and while Brearley was meticulously setting the field he shouted out helpfully, "I need an effing deckchair here, skip."

One other glorious passage of play between Somerset and Middlesex springs to mind. A dead game at Bath on a damp, turning surface but with two hours to go. Emburey and Edmonds bowl to Martin Crowe, who produced a masterpiece against the turning ball watched by half-a dozen and which had no impact on the outcome.

The outcome here is decided. It will be a draw, 10 points apiece.

2.22pm: Clouds now precipitating, if that's meteorologically correct, writes Andy Wilson. Delayed the resumption after lunch by 15 minutes, then they came on for 17 balls, and now everybody off again. Kent 40-odd for two, let's call the whole thing off.

2.15pm: There is still time for you to vote, incidentally, on the ECB proposals for the restructuring of the county championship, writes David Hopps.

There have been nearly 2,000 responses so far in a poll run with the support of CricInfo, cricket's leading specialist website. The poll might not entirely MORIs exacting standards (although it might pass muster with one or two other polling companies I could mention) but we think it gives a very accurate idea of the wishes of cricket followers. We will be passing the results to the ECB and all 18 first-class counties.

The counties have been taken by the idea of a Premier Division of eight teams and Division One of 10 teams which, for fixture purposes, would be split into two regional pools of five teams. This proposal has attracted support from nearly 50% of respondants on The Guardian poll.

What is clear so far is that only a minority of cricket followers want an American-style conference system where leagues are drawn up not by merit but randomly. And a move from four-day to five-day championship cricket is the least popular of all, so far attracting only 6 per cent support.

Premier Division sides play each other twice, making a total of 14 matches. Division One sides play each counties in their own pool twice, so maximizing the number of derby games, and counties in the other pool once, making up 13 games.

Some of you have pointed out there is no option for "No Change." We decided to give you the options exactly as the ECB provided them to the counties - and, it appears, they have decided that no change is not an option. They must have been listening to too many election slogans.

2.05pm: To mild surprise, we might have a game on at Headingley, writes David Hopps. Tino Best, Yorkshire's West Indies quick, haas struck the stumps of Durham's Chris Rushworth immediately after lunch and Durham have been dismissed for 330 - with Michael Di Venuto, who retired hurt on 108 this morning, not resuming his innings.

Durham still have quite a task to save this match. They are 280 behind and Kyle Coetzer has been joined by an emergency opener, Scott Borthwick, and Di Venuto is highly unlikely to bat again. His back has entirely seized up apparently. The clouds are high, but rain might spoil this around tea.

Best, on Yorkshire debut, has come up with four for 86 on an extremely sluggish surface that did him no favours. After his first five overs on the second day, I suggested that the pitch would put years on him. That's the words shoved down my throat then.

1.40pm: Sajid Mahmood has taken two more wickets for Lancashire as they press for an unlikely win against Kent, writes Andy Wilson. They were good ones, too - Joe Denly bowled through the gate driving airily, and Geraint Jones edging to Paul Horton at first slip. Rob Key is still there, riding his luck against some unplayable stuff from Glen Chapple who has found a spot on the pitch offering occasionally steep bounce. Kent sprung a surprise by promoting Matt Coles, the tall 19-year-old left hander who came in at nine in the first innings. He doesn't look overly happy against the short stuff but has biffed one boundary. Maybe Kent are going to go for the runs? 33-2 at lunch, grey clouds hanging ominously, but for the moment nowt coming out.

1.02pm: The fact that Durham have turned to an Indian businessman to invest £2.4m in the club to support their development plans at The Riverside indicates the more aggressive business culture in county cricket as English counties try to grasp the opportunities presented by Twenty20, writes David Hopps at Headingley.

But David Harker, Durham's chief executive, has contacted the County Blog today to stress that there has been nothing secretive about the involvement for the past two-and-a-half years of Gautam Radia, a Mumbai media owner and a long-term business associate of the Durham chairman Clive Leach, whose shareholding in Durham is lodged with Companies House.

"We would have liked to attract more investment from the north-east, but there were no opportunities. Clive has known Gautum as a business friend and associate for a long time and this investment is helping us to achieve our objectives for Durham cricket and Durham members, who voted for us to become a limited company by an overwhelming margin. We have never tried to hide our shareholdings."

Harker was at pains to stress that Durham's tie-up with Radia, who owns radio stations in both India and Sri Lanka, is long-term and does not indicate the prospect of any IPL buyout. But Leach's ambitions led him to spend some time at IPL3, exploring potential tie-ups between Durham and an IPL franchise - with Chennai one club that he is said to have courted. That is hardly unique. Several other counties have been investigating similar avenues after Hampshire's announcement of a commercial tie-up with Rajasthan Royals.

But since Hampshire's announcement to much fanfare of the Rajasthan deal, IPL has been besieged by allegations of financial irregularities. The appetite for further Indian involvement might have waned within English county cricket until the outcome of various official investigations become clearer.

It will be a jolt for some county followers to recognise the extent of changing attitudes among county clubs as they try to keep pace with IPL, fund ground development, and produce the revenue that will enable English cricket to attract the world's top players for Twenty20.

With many Test grounds under financial pressure, and forming their own ginger group to press for greater revenue-earning opportunities, it is likely that a second Twenty20 competition based on Test grounds, and perhaps played on a regional basis, is only a matter of time.

All that has rather overshadowed the cricket at Headingley. Durham are 320-8 with lunch 10 minutes away, Liam Plunkett just bowled off an inside edge for 51. They are still 290 behind Yorkshire's 610-6 declared. It would take quite a bowling spell to bring this game alive. Unlikely, but not yet impossible.

12.47pm: Correction: it was a three hole lead and there were moments when I had my foot on the Jenkins jugular, but he doesn't know when he is beaten, writes Vic Marks.

Here Essex are all out for 353 so there is parity in the pursuit of bonus points. Michael Munday took the last wicket to finish with 4-105. He will always be expensive, I suspect, since he is such an enticing bowler and there are a few loose balls that could be eradicated. But he does have a googly to go with his leg-break.

On the structure I'm anti-conference, keen to keep as many Championship matches as possible but believe we play too much for our own good - bear in mind we had a freakishly dry April.

12.23pm: Greetings from Taunton, where there is cricket but nothing much significant, writes Vic Marks. There is no collusion, no fixing. They may be a tad sensitive about that sort of activity at Essex just at the moment. A few wickets have fallen and rapid runs scored as bonus points are sought.

Am a bit breathless after a very early morning round of golf with CMJ. I wanted to be able tell you how I gave him a good hiding. I wanted to but I can't, having squandered a three shot lead to shake hands on the last all square.

There may be edited highlights later on. There may not thanks to an inopportune chip into a bunker on the 17th.

Essex 344 for nine.

12.15pm: Hooray, writes Andy Wilson. 12.30pm start Old Trafford, and Lancs have declared. Kent need 285 to win. Game on? At least until it rains again. But farcically, they'll have to go off after half an hour's play for a 40-minute lunch break. Grrrr.

11.15am: Hoppsy is having technical problems at Headingley, confides Andy Wilson, but they have started there - with another worry for Durham, as Michael Di Venuto has been unable to resume from his overnight 108 having woken up with a stuff back. Suddenly the expected romp to a third consecutive Championship is looking a bit less of a formality - they're only going to have one win from their first three games, their seamers are dropping like flies, and now both Di Venuto and Dale Benkenstein have injury concerns. Notts, who are sitting out this round having won each of their first two games, are suddenly looking a more attractive Championship bet. By the way umpires are now inspecting here, good chance of an 11.30am start.

11am: Isn't it miserable when a game is shaping up fascinatingly, only to be stymied by the weather? That looks almost certain to be the case here, writes Andy Wilson at old Trafford, as the rain started about an hour ago, and there is much more forecast for later on. All not completely lost yet as there is a patch of blue sky above the Point, and the covers are coming off, but we're definitely not starting on time - so no news yet on whether Lancashire have declared on their overnight 177 for three, with a lead of 284, which they surely must do in an effort to beat the weather.

One development on the restructuring debate that Hoppsy started yesterday: Mark Chilton, the former Lancashire captain who has compiled his first half century of the season after three single-figure scores, revealed at the close that he - and presumably dozens of other senior players on the circuit - have been circulated for their opinions on the same range of options that were discussed on the blog yesterday. He isn't necessarily averse to the current programme of 16 four-day Championship matches, but insists the overall volume of cricket is too much, citing Lancashire's current glut, whereby they are due to play for 14 days out of 17.